Five Finger Death Punch wants your children
Lead singer Ivan Moody brings children as young as 4 on stage then….
Explicit language warning: View (at least) the first :55 seconds of this video;
and then,
Explicit language warning: View the first 2 minutes of this video.
My colleagues and I who write for this blog usually focus on a topic in the Homeland Security field; this will be the same…trust me, I will get there. As the videos show, Ivan Moody, the leader singer of heavy metal band Five Finger Death Punch, invites children on stage because, he says, “I am a father and my kids are my entire life.” One of my team members recently became a father; we will call his first-born O, and I dedicate this piece to him.
You may wonder why we engage in writing articles for a Homeland Security blog anyway. The simple answer is, we have to…as a requirement for a class in our Graduate program. The more complicated question, however, is why and how we all got into a Graduate program that requires this of us. To be admitted into this Masters’ Degree Program, every student must be employed in a Homeland Security related field. Amongst our ranks, we have firemen, and those with less popular occupations, like policemen, federal agency employees and career military.
So that brings us to our next question — why are we engaged in those occupations? Why do so many people engage in those occupations? My answer to that question mirrors Ivan Moody’s…because I myself am a father. Because I am a father, I chose a career in which I have the unique ability to make a better life for them and a better society for all children. In turn, I take my twenty plus year law enforcement career very seriously, and I believe that any attack on civility is a threat to the homeland security we endeavor to preserve.
We live in a world today where attacks on peaceful societies come fast and furious. Even more jarring, attacks on simply civilized, ordered societies, are becoming increasingly frequent. Maybe this isn’t such a political piece after all; this is a request from fathers to act like them, raise your sons to be responsible fathers someday, and in so doing, help restore peaceful society and rebuild respect for ordered, civilized society.
In doing research for this article, I came across an article entitled, “Father Absence, Father Deficit, Father Hunger: The Vital Importance of a Paternal Presence in Children’s Lives” by Dr. Edward Druck (Psychology Today, 2012). As I struggled to find an academic explanation of my point, I read the Dr. Druck’s statement, “I do not wish to either disparage single mothers or blame non-residential fathers for this state of affairs…Children need both parents, and parents need the support of social institutions in regard to being there for their kids.” Dr. Druck continues by saying that, “the two major structural threats to fathers’ presence in children’s lives are divorce and non-marital childbearing. More often than not, fathers are involuntarily relegated by family courts to the role of ‘accessory parents,’ valued for their role as financial providers rather than as active caregivers.” Dr. Druck’s reseach indicates that children raised in fatherless homes are more likely to experience negative symptoms, including but not limited to:
· Diminished self-concept
· Behavioral problems
· Truancy and poor academic performance
· Delinquency and criminal behavior
· Promiscuity
· Drug and alcohol abuse
· Exploitation and abuse
· Mental health disorders
The list goes on (you can read it here, as well as more facts backing up those assertions), but I think the take-away is that these issues plaguing those without strong parental support systems are pre-cursors to those whose next steps may be threats to our security, or more simplistically, threats to our ideals of an ordered, civilized society. With less paternal guidance and family structure, children are more likely to experience so many negative effects throughout their lives, and so many of those that deemphasize the importance of school, structure, community, respect and civilized society. The minimization of those things lead down a slippery slope to threats to our national security.
The referenced article focuses on good parenting as well as policy analysis regarding non-residential parents’ rights as reflected by laws, policies, and court judgments. I am not writing to begin a debate into policy analysis…necessarily…let’s take this slow and on face value, encourage as many men to be the best fathers they can be. It will build better citizens, and it may just help strengthen our national security down the road.
So is this piece about homeland security, career choices or fatherhood? Yes. All of the above; and their overlaps. This article is not directed at my teammate, who is already a great father. It is only a stream of consciousness as he emails me pictures of he and his wife’s newest accomplishment while I listen to a little speed metal, and think about needing more fathers in the world who are so excited about their accomplishments and about the world they are bringing their children into.
Welcome to the world little O; your father is making it a better place for you.
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